KPMG Fires Partner for Role in Insider Trading

Tuesday, 9 Apr 2013 | 6:38 AM ETReuters

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KPMG said late on Monday it had fired a senior partner in the accounting firm's Los Angeles office for allegedly providing inside information to an unnamed third party, who then used that information to trade in stocks of several West Coast companies.

KPMG, one of the "Big Four" accounting and audit firms, said it has resigned as the auditor for two clients upon discovery of the individual's action.

"We have informed those companies it is necessary to withdraw our auditor reports. We have no reason to believe that the financial statements of these companies have been materially misstated," KPMG spokesman Tim Connolly said in a statement.

KPMG did not name the client firms in its statement. The firm also did not identify the West Coast companies whose stocks were traded by the unnamed third party.

The accounting firm did not name the partner nor did it say how it learned of the individual's alleged activity.